Abu Dhabi firm launches $2b Ethiopia construction

Tuesday November 20 2018

An artist's impression of the estimated $2 billion integrated community development project in Addis Ababa to be undertaken by the United Arab Emirates firm, the Eagle Hills. ANDUALEM SISAY | NATION MEDIA GROUP

In Summary

The Ethiopia government will have 27 percent share in the project which includes malls

The project is estimated to take up to seven years to be completed

The first phase, which will have shopping malls, will be finalised in three years

The United Arab Emirates firm, the Eagle Hills, has launched an estimated $2 billion integrated community development project in Addis Ababa.

The Ethiopia government will have 27 percent share in the project which includes malls, 4,000 apartment houses, three star hotels and recreation centres, according to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who launched the project Monday night.

The project is estimated to take up to seven years to be completed.

According to the masterplan, some 1,600 households whose current dwellings will be demolished, will be absorbed in the proposed apartments.

Communal values

“Eagle Hills has given us 1.8 billion birr ($65 million) that will allow us to provide housing for those 1,600 households in the new project without being displaced from where they have been living for long,” Mr Abiy said.

The first phase, which will have shopping malls, will be finalised in three years.

“It is expected to energise the economy by creating around 25,000 jobs for Ethiopians. The development project also aims to preserve the historical and communal values of the area, while ensuring the current dwellers are also beneficiaries of the development project through ownership of some of the apartment units, challenging the previous practice of displacement,” explained the premier.